iNeed Some Air
by wannabe1980
Summary: Jake is single again, and the girls are excited. That can mean only 1 thing...Carly's going after him again. That's what Freddie thinks anyway. Suddenly he has to get out. He needs some air! Creddie one-shot. R&R! I don't own iCarly!


**AN: This is a Creddie one-shot that just popped into my head. I'm thinking about writing a series of one-shots like this called "iHave Needs." The title of each story will be iNeed _____. Whatcha think?**

**For those of you reading iFind My Father, I am still working on it. I lost my inspiration for a while, but I think I'll have a new chapter up soon. I haven't given up on it, and I ask that you don't either. :)**

**Reviews are always much appreciated!**

iNeed Some Air

"And we're clear," Freddie said with a smile as he shut down the webcast. "Great show, girls."

"Thanks," Carly replied as she smoothed her hair back out of her face. "Good work with the tech stuff. The special effects for the pathetic play were great."

"Yeah," added Sam with just a hint of sarcasm as she struggled to find her way out of the tangle of blond curls wrapped around her head, "the fans were a nice touch."

"Well, _The Brunette Who Was too Dumb to Get Out of the Tornado and the Smart Blonde Who Saved Her_ wouldn't have been believable without a little wind," Freddie said with a smirk.

"Easy for you to say, Fredlumps," Sam grumbled, finally uncovering her face. "You're not the one who's going to break your hairbrush trying to undo this mess!"

"You can always just shave your head," Freddie replied. "I'll help."

"You're not coming anywhere near my head, nub!" Sam hissed. "And you don't want to be anywhere near me when I have a razor in my hand. It would be bad for your health."

"Guys!" Carly shouted. "Could you two stop fighting for five minutes? Cheese and rice!"

"Whoa," Sam said, "easy, Carls. No need for language."

"Sorry, Carly," Freddie said softly.

The three shared a moment of uncomfortable silence. "Hey," Carly said in a gentler tone, "let's check the feedback for tonight's show."

"Okay," Freddie said as he stepped over to his laptop. The two girls flanked him as he pulled up a bar chart. "Looks like we had a few more viewers tonight, but it's not a significant increase. We're holding pretty steady at 900,000."

"That's where we've been ever since Principal Franklin was here, and that was months ago," Carly said, her brow furrowed. "We should be higher than that by now, don't you think?"

"I wonder what's holding us back," Sam said. "Check SplashFace and the Tweets. See what people are saying."

"Good idea," Carly agreed.

They all huddled close to the screen as Freddie scrolled through dozens of posts. Several were about iCarly, but none of them gave any insight into why they weren't getting many new viewers.

"OMG!" Sam suddenly shouted, nudging Freddie's shoulder. "Go back up!"

"What?" he and Carly both asked as he scrolled up.

"I saw something. Keep going, but slow down a bit." Sam said, staring intently at the screen. "There!" she said, pointing at a block of text. They all took a moment to read the post.

"Stephanie's family is moving to New York. Her dad got transferred," Carly said as she turned to meet Sam's excited gaze.

"So, you know what that means," Sam said with a huge grin, "Jake's gonna be single again!"

Carly considered Sam's words for a moment. She heard Freddie's exasperated sigh and glanced at him in time to see him roll his eyes. "We don't know that," she said, "they might try to do the whole long-distance thing."

Sam bumped Freddie out of the way and pulled up Jake's SplashFace page. "Nope," she said. "Look at his mood. 'Heartbroken.' He wouldn't be heartbroken if they were staying together." She turned to Carly with an expectant smile.

"Yeah," Carly said, grinning back at her, "I guess he will be available again."

Freddie cleared his throat. "I'll catch you two later," he said as he hurried toward the door.

Carly turned to face him, and the look on his face made her heart ache. She had done it again. She had hurt him without meaning to, without even knowing it. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Just out," he said, his eyes downcast. "I need some air." With that, he turned and bolted out of the studio and away from the girl who could crush him with a word.

Carly stared at the door where he had disappeared for a long moment. She hated the way her careless words had cut him so deeply. Granted, he had taken what she said out of context, but she had never even stopped to think how it might sound to him. She turned back to Sam, who was staring at her with one eyebrow cocked.

"You going after him?" she asked in a tone that clearly meant, "You _need_ to go after him."

"Yeah," Carly said with a heavy sigh, "I have to try to fix this."

"Here's hoping you can keep your foot out of your mouth long enough," Sam said playfully.

"Thanks," Carly chuckled.

"Well, Mama's out," Sam said as she strode to the door. "Got a hot date with a glazed ham. Later!"

"Night, Sam," Carly called after her.

* * *

Carly peered out the window to the fire escape. She saw Freddie sitting in a folding chair with his feet up on the railing. He leaned his head back and looked up at the stars. She stood and watched him for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to him.

"You might as well come on out, Carly," he said matter-of-factly, making her jump a little.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked as she climbed out the window.

"I saw your shadow in the light from the window," he replied, turning his head to look at her as she stepped up beside him. His eyes looked tired and sad.

"Freddie," she began timidly, "I wanted to talk to you about what just happened in the studio."

"I figured as much," he said, returning his gaze to the stars above.

"I know what you must be thinking," she began.

"Do you?" he asked.

"W-well," she stammered, "you must be thinking that I'm going to go after Jake again, right?"

"Of course that's what I'm thinking," he said with a forced laugh. "I saw the way you smiled when you realized he would be single again."

"Freddie," she said softly, laying her hand on his arm.

He moved his arm away from her touch. "You want to know what else I'm thinking, Carly?" he asked, turning angry eyes on her. "I'm thinking what a chump I am for carrying this torch for you all these years. I have loved you and only you since the day I met you. I've never lied to you, betrayed you, or mistreated you in ANY way. I've done every little thing you've ever asked of me. I endure daily torture just so I can be near you."

"I know Sam can be mean sometimes, but," Carly interjected. Freddie cut her off.

"I'm not talking about Sam," he said heatedly. "I'm talking about having my heart ripped out and smashed into a billion pieces and then having those pieces crushed under your heel. Every day is like that for me. Every day. Wanting you the way I do, being so close to you, and knowing I'll never have you. It's torture, but I can't walk away. I'd rather have you in my life as a friend than not at all, even if it kills me a little bit each day."

He saw the tears forming in Carly's eyes as he spoke, but he couldn't stop there. He had more to say. "I always think of you first. Even when I had a chance to be with you, I let you go because I knew you didn't really love me. I could have been selfish and kept going with it. I could've capitalized on your guilt and gratitude, but I didn't. I know it was disappointing for you at the time, but now you're over the hero thing and you're better off."

"Freddie, I…" Carly choked out, but she couldn't finish.

"You know what really gets me though?" he said with a drawn-out sigh. "It's so obvious that I love you, I mean _really_ love you, but you keep going after all these guys who don't. I mean, look what Jake did to you last time. He flirted you up like he was really interested. He got your hopes up. Then he went running back to Stephanie as soon as she would have him, and he left you in the dust. Now you're about to go chasing after him again. What makes you think he won't hurt you again, huh?"

Freddie stared at her for a long moment, but she couldn't meet his gaze. "It occurs to me that I must be WAY down at the bottom of your list of potential suitors if you'd rather risk your heart on someone like Jake than give me a chance. I really should give up on you and move on, but I can't. I just keep hoping, and that's why I'm a chump." He folded his arms across his chest and stared sullenly at his shoes.

"No!" Carly shouted, finally finding her voice. "I'm not!" Freddie turned to her in confusion. "I mean you're not," she said, shaking her head vigorously. "I mean I'm not going after Jake, and you're not a chump."

"You're not?" Freddie asked incredulously. She shook her head. "But in the studio, you…."

"Sam is the one who likes Jake this time," Carly said as she stared into Freddie's hope-filled face. "I was smiling because I was excited for her, not because I wanted Jake."

"Oh," Freddie said quietly, "well I feel like a nub."

"Don't," she said, stepping closer to him. She lifted his chin and leaned down to look into his eyes. "I understand why you thought that, and I'm sorry. I didn't stop to think about how it would sound. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay," he said as he gazed longingly into her eyes. He could smell the sweet scent of her hair, and her touch sent tingles through his body.

"And you're not a chump," she continued, leaning a bit closer to him. "You're not at the bottom of my list." She heard his breath hitch. "You're right at the top," she said with a warm smile as she closed the gap between their lips.

She slowly moved to sit on his lap, never breaking their kiss. She ran her hands through his hair and felt his roaming her back. She kissed him with more passion than she had ever known until she felt him pull away from her. She lazily opened her eyes and saw that his were still closed. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, panting, "I just needed some air." Then he pulled her lips back down to his own.


End file.
